Ban Plastic Bags Rap Goes Viral (Video)

OK, so the Great Pacific Garbage Patch may not be anywhere near as big as we thought, and some activists think plastic bags are a distraction from the major environmental issues we face. But that doesn't stop many others from holding up the single-use plastic bag as a symbol of all that is wrong with our consumer culture. Now a viral rap video is making the rounds, calling on cities around the Globe to step up and ban the single-use plastic bag. I'm always in two minds about plastic bag bans. On the one hand, I get it—plastic bags are wasteful, polluting and pointless. They do make us lazy. And they do cost all of us money in terms of taxes to deal with litter and pollution.

On a case-by-case basis I have no problem with banning the single use plastic bag. But, given all the environmental challenges ahead of us—from peak oil to climate change to clean water issues—and given the uphill struggle we face getting any kind of action in Government, I do think it is worth asking how much political capital we want to spend on laws that address one of the most visible the symptoms, but not the root problem of excessive fossil fuel use. Of course, the counter argument is that we tackle our issues one symptom at a time—banning plastic bags is a first step to broader ecological awareness.